


Monday, Tuesday, Everyday

by jiho



Category: VIXX
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-16
Updated: 2014-02-16
Packaged: 2018-01-13 10:44:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1223383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jiho/pseuds/jiho
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hongbin thinks Taekwoon is boring and Taekwoon thinks Hongbin is a brat , who shouldn't be lecturing him about what kind of coffee he drinks when the only thing the boy drinks is frappucinos.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Monday, Tuesday, Everyday

**Author's Note:**

> written for forvixx's valentine's exchange.

There is a coffee shop right outside of the southern area of campus where the Faculty of Arts is placed. The shop, Milky Way, opened its doors for the first time nearly twenty years ago on a sunny spring day. It has been rebuilt twice in its short history in order to make room for more customers; first, by expanding the ground floor, then, by opening and rearranging the basement, which had previously been used as a storage.

The opening hours, too, have changed drastically since its beginning, now fitting the schedule of a stressful student rather than the average businessman, opening early for the poor souls who have class at eight in the morning and not closing until long after the last class or lecture room has been locked. During holidays, the ones where the students actually have time to relax, Milky Way would take the liberty to let its employees sleep in a little  
longer as it no longer needed to open its doors at the earliest hours.

Needless to say, Milky Way’s main source of income is the college right across the street, the seats in the coffee shop always occupied by students, almost as if it’s an official part of campus.

For the arts students, Milky Way is the most popular alternative to the libraries.

Jung Taekwoon, who is on his fourth semester, has only been to the coffee shop a handful of times. There has never really been any reason for him to go there. He had always appreciated the silence the libraries have to offer or the workshops when he needs to study at campus, either alone or in a group. He would never go there himself and only a few times has his group been forced to opt for the coffee shop because they couldn’t find anywhere else to study. Milky Way had always been very busy when they went inside. Sometimes it had been faster to get their drinks than to find a table. Only once, they had been lucky enough to get a table downstairs. It is always quieter down there than on the main floor, with students like themselves who are reading or writing assignments together and who, too, like it to be a little less noisy.

Taekwoon had lived at home with his family during his first year of college, moving out just before the third semester started. It was not that he minded living with his parents, his sisters already living by themselves, but the daily travel, or nearly daily travel, took too much of his time and too much of his money. He would have prefered to find his own place, but when Hakyeon had offered his spare room, his previous roommate gone, it hadn’t seemed like a bad idea. Hakyeon’s apartment was bigger than any of the ones he had come across by himself, far better than any of the dorms he could sign up for, and of course, he could move in right away and skip any kind of waiting list. It wasn’t too far away from campus either, a fifteen minute walk away.

He and Hakyeon have been friends for many years and while Taekwoon enjoys his company from time to time, he wasn’t very keen on the idea of living with him. It turns out that he doesn’t have to worry about spending every waking minute with Hakyeon as he is just as busy as Taekwoon. Still, Taekwoon spends hours at campus instead of their apartment when he is studying by himself outside of his group. In the past, he would simply read at home and in the train ride both back and forth to college.

He has found himself a favourite spot at the Southeastern library for when the workshop is unavailable, one of the smaller libraries at campus, a small table with a single chair between two shelves that are stacked with old, worn leather books.

Taekwoon had opened one out of curiosity, many of them without a title on its cover. The text was messily inked onto the old, and far from white, pages, the paper rough against his fingertips. The choice of words in the book, too, gave away the age of the book as his eyes ran through the passages before he closed it again, unimpressed. Even after putting the book back to its place, he wasn’t quite sure what section he had stumbled upon.

Today is the first time Taekwoon enters the coffee shop by himself with the intent of staying. He’s supposed to go home this weekend and visit his parents, but it’s pouring outside and he doesn’t own an umbrella. It hadn’t been raining when he had finished packing his bag, heavy drops suddenly falling as he stepped out of his apartment. It’s just a quick downpour, he’s sure, it’ll pass soon.

It’s quite obvious that he’s not the only one in Milky Way who is seeking refuge from the weather. He steps up to the counter, or rather, the long line in front of it, knowing that he needs to buy something if he doesn’t want to be thrown out.

By the time he has made his order and one of the employees calls out his name, ‘A macchiato for Taekwoon!’, he still hasn’t found a table to sit at. Good thing he said he wanted his drink as to-go. He considers taking one of the empty seats by the already occupied tables, but he doesn’t deem any of the people there approachable. He knows sitting next to a stranger doesn’t mean he needs to talk to them, but he doesn’t want to risk finding someone who is as talkative as Hakyeon or Jaehwan.

There is a girl sitting by herself at a corner to his left, typing away on her notebook, long hair brushed over her right shoulder, the dark threads falling across the side of her face. She’s pretty. Taekwoon would rather not approach her. There’s another table with two empty chairs to his right, but he doesn’t think it’d be right to interrupt the couple already sitting there, simply wishing that they had taken a smaller table. The two guys further down don’t seem like a bad option, but someone else is already walking up to them by the time he’s made up his mind. He skims through the shop another time as he sips carefully at his coffee, finding even less options than before and, looking out of the window, it’s obvious that no one will be leaving for a while.

Taekwoon looks over to the table at one of the pillars, three out of the four chairs empty. It looks like the guy sitting there is playing with the whip cream of his frappucino. He can’t see the face of the person sitting there properly from where he’s standing, but he can see his bleached hair, strawberry blonde. Taekwoon can see the leather jacket he’s wearing, too, silver studs adorning the shoulders, the rips in his black jeans, and maybe Taekwoon knows why no one is sitting at the table with him. He doesn’t know whether it’s because no one has dared to ask or whether he has just rejected people. Both seem plausible. He considers finding out if the latter is true, feeling just a little desperate to sit and get out of his drenched clothes, but he decides against it, keeping his place.

When Taekwoon is half done with his macchiato, the rain seems to finally have stopped. He leaves, throwing a quick glance at the blonde guy again. He’s still sitting by himself.

 

_don’t come home for another hour_

Taekwoon sighs at the text, about to tuck his phone back into his pocket when it gives another ‘ _pling_ ’. It’s Hakyeon again. Of course.

_or two_

This time he makes a small noise of annoyance, wondering if he’ll find a sock on the doorknob if he were to go home. Grabbing his bag, Taekwoon heads for the library. According to the online schedule, all the workshops have already been booked. He doesn’t really feel like reading and he only has a little left to do for tomorrow anyway, so he figures that he’ll just find a quiet place where he can do some sketches until Hakyeon is finished with… whatever he’s doing. Taekwoon doesn’t want to dwell on it.

Much to Taekwoon’s disappointment, his usual spot is taken by a group of four people, the small table barely able to fit all of their books and the chairs don’t match, dragged over from somewhere else. He walks a round through the library, searching for a table, but finds none, not even when he takes another tour. He considers his options, then decides to try one of the other libraries, hoping he’s lucky enough to find something.

Taekwoon doesn’t find anywhere to be at the Southern library. He even stays there, waiting for someone to leave, but turns impatient after a few minutes and leaves. He’d been spending nearly a half hour already looking for somewhere to be. He doesn’t like the idea much, frowning slightly at the thought, but then sets for Milky Way anyway.

This time he has luck on his side, quickly stealing the table another two students have just left as he walks in, not even thinking about checking for seats downstairs first. He sits down at the table and hopes someone will come and clean it for him soon, taking off his jacket and putting his bag down so that people will know that someone is sitting there before he walks up to the line to make an order.

It isn’t too busy at Milky Way today and it’s quieter than the last time he came in, less crowded. Customers seem to walk in and out of the shop constantly with their to-go orders. Taekwoon is happy they don’t have a bell at the door.

Taekwoon easily finds himself immersed in his work, the noise in the coffee shop not bothering him though he forgot to bring his iPod and earphones. He’s on his fifth sketch, having scrapped three of the others he started on, unhappy with how they were turning out. He drags his pencil across the paper, leaving soft lines on the matte surface. Taekwoon has always made too many strokes when he sketches.

His macchiato is almost untouched when he finally remembers that it’s actually there. He’s surprised by how much it has already chilled off as he tastes it.

“Mind if I sit here?” someone asks him and he looks up from his sketchbook, meeting eyes with a stranger. He wants to say no, but gives a silent nod anyway. The stranger puts down his frappuccino before he takes the chair and it only takes a moment for Taekwoon to realise where he has seen that leather jacket before. The colour of his hair looks a little different though. It’s darker than from what he remembers, more brown and less blonde with a reddish tint.

The guy is quiet, sucking on his straw without uttering another word, so Taekwoon goes back to his drawing. They sit quietly next to each other, Taekwoon soon finishing his cup before it becomes cold and turning another page in his sketchbook while the other is slower with his own cup, playing with the straw.

When the stranger, too, has emptied his cup after a long while, he stands up, leaving without a word. Taekwoon barely even notices, only vaguely does he hear the chair scrape against the floor, so he looks up from the paper and at the stranger again. He’s not sure if he’s supposed to say something when the stranger gives Taekwoon a nod, so he doesn’t, only keeping his eyes on him until he’s gone. He checks the clock on his phone and wonders if it’s safe to go home yet. It’s almost been two hours since he had gotten those messages from Hakyeon. While he doesn’t mind interrupting whatever his roommate might be doing, he isn’t fond of the idea of walking in on an intimate moment. He’d like to spare his eyes and ears. And his other three senses if they were to be in danger too.

Taekwoon pushes his sketchbook away, leaning back and stretching his neck. He has already decided against going home. He’s playing safe. Pulling out a thick book from his bag, Taekwoon thinks to himself that he might as well finish his homework. He is, however, not going through another two poems without another cup of coffee. Literature has never been his thing.

 

Milky Way may have become Taekwoon’s new favourite place to study aside from the workshops. Honestly, it’s not very ideal for him; the lighting is poor when he’s sketching or even just reading, dimmed, and there’s always more noise than he’d like, even when he’s sitting downstairs. It gets better though when he brings his earphones and he’s able to mute the rest of the shop. There’s something comforting about staying at Milky Way though, the lingering scent of coffee in the air calming his nerves. It’s like he’s allowed to relax here, the atmosphere not as tight as in the libraries where all he can think is that he _needs_ to be studying, because everyone around him is as well.

He’s not always fortunate enough to find a table to be at every time he enters, but it takes less time for one to become available than at the libraries and for that he’s glad.

Taekwoon is sketching when a small horde of people suddenly enters the shop. He notices despite the music playing in his earphones and turns his head. It's raining heavily outside. He ducks his head again, focusing on his work. Taekwoon sees him coming though, even with his eyes still on the paper.

"Is this taken?" a voice asks and Taekwoon shakes his head, only giving the other a quick glance. It is indeed The Guy In the Leather Jacket.

He's easy to recognise. It's not just the jacket and the ridiculous, torn jeans or his hair. He's handsome, Taekwoon had noticed from the last time, big round eyes, double eyelids and slightly slanted downwards at the tips, giving him a lazy look. His nose is slim and straight, lips even and prettily pink against his pale skin. He looks like an idol. He's tall too, Taekwoon can easily tell though he doesn't think he's as tall as himself. He has dimples, visible when sucks on his straw, drinking from his frappuccino, which is a different one from the last he got, the colour of the liquid in the disposable cup not nearly as dark. Taekwoon doesn't know what taste it is, not familiar with these drinks.

They sit in silence without exchanging a single word like the last time and if Taekwoon had cared, he might have found the situation awkward, but it's easy to remember that they're still simply just strangers while he is listening to music, leaving out the sounds of his surroundings. Taekwoon finishes up before The Guy In the Leather Jacket is done with his frappuccino. He packs his things, ready to go. It’s still raining, but it’s only dripping a little. He’ll risk it. He had promised Hakyeon, who would be back a little late, that he’d make them dinner tonight, and Taekwoon intends to have dinner ready by the time Hakyeon is back. He doesn’t want to hear him whine.

 

It’s raining again. It’s been raining all week and most of the day today. Taekwoon’s hair is a little wet, the hoodie of his sweatshirt poor protection against the thick drops falling from the sombre sky. He’s not surprised to find that all the tables inside are taken. There are a few empty seats by some of them, but he’d rather not take them. He doesn’t want to ask. He waits a little, hoping for an opening while he stands at the counter, but not in line, pretending to think about what to get. Soon enough, someone does leave and he rushes to the table, maybe a little too obviously, but feels satisfied with himself when he reaches it before someone else does. He quickly puts his things down, before he goes up to order, bringing the empty plastic cups along and throwing them out on his way.

It’s thundering outside and it’s louder than usually in the shop. Even with his earphones on, he can’t seem to properly concentrate on the contents of his book. He scratches the back of his head, forcing himself to keep his eyes on the words, but his vision seems to blur after a few minutes. He can’t do this. When he looks up, letting out a small groan, there’s someone standing by the chair across from him, a small hand on the back of it, looking at him. He doesn’t say anything, only tilts his head a little while keeping his gaze, so Taekwoon nods, silently telling him that he can sit there. He takes his earphones out, putting them on the table, on top of his closed book and takes a sip of his coffee, not looking at The Guy In the Leather Jacket.

“I’m Hongbin,” he says suddenly, catching Taekwoon’s attention. It comes out as a question, as if he’s not sure if he’s supposed to introduce himself. Taekwoon nods, then says,

“Taekwoon.”

The Guy In the Leather Jacket, Hongbin, looks a little surprised. Taekwoon doesn’t know what, but he does get that look fairly often, oddly enough.

“So… What are you drinking, Taekwoon?”

“A macchiato.”

“Do you always get a macchiato?”

Taekwoon nods, stirring the beverage with his spoon before taking another careful sip.

“Isn’t that a little boring?” Hongbin asks, and Taekwoon raises a brow. He doesn’t answer, asking a question of his own instead as he eyes Hongbin’s green drink.

“What are you drinking?”

“A green tea frap. And last time i got vanilla, and the time before that caramel, you know, a little variation.”

“That’s hardly variation.”

“Better than you.”

Taekwoon resists the urge to glare at Hongbin, remembering that they don’t actually know each other.

“You should get something else the next time, spice it up a bit.”

Taekwoon promptly ignores the suggestion and Hongbin sighs, grabbing his straw with two of his pale, slender fingers, bringing the tip to his tongue and licks the whip cream off. Taekwoon doesn’t actually mean to stare. They don’t say more than that. The air between them is a little tense, but Taekwoon soon forgets, staring blankly out of the window.

He doesn’t know how much time has passed, but his cup is empty. Hongbin is still getting there, struggling to drink up the last bit of his whip cream at the bottom of his cup without slurping. It’s still raining quietly outside, but the last thunder sounded long ago. Maybe it’s time to head home. He dresses slowly, not in a hurry to get out in the rain. He stands quietly and Hongbin watches him as he grabs his bag.

“Bye?” Hongbin says, brows raised as Taekwoon takes the first step. He makes an embarrassed noise at the back of his throat, forcing out a quiet ‘ _goodbye_ ’ before he leaves, steps a little hurried.

 

Taekwoon arrives at Milky Way a little later than usual, having spent some time after class talking with his professor before discussing the project with his group. It was only supposed to take a few minutes to plan a meetup so they could get started, but somehow they had wound up talking about the project, sharing initial ideas and thoughts until Ahyoung had told them that she had another class to attend. Taekwoon had thought it had been a cue for them to split up then, but Jiho had kept talking, already brainstorming. He stopped, finally, when Jaekyung had said it was time for her to leave too, needing to catch a bus.

The coffee shop is surprisingly empty today. Well, it’s not empty per se, but there is not nearly as many people there as usual, only half full. Taekwoon doesn’t mind though, taking one of the bigger tables close to the window where there’s a little more light.

“Hey,” someone says, behind him just as he’s about to make his order and Taekwoon whips his head around in surprise.

“Hello,” he greets Hongbin, but turns around again, not wanting to make the guy, Sanghyuk, his nametag reads, behind the counter wait.

“Really? Macchiato again?” Hongbin asks him after Taekwoon has paid, stepping up to the counter. Taekwoon ignores him, simply walking over to his table to wait. He isn’t surprised, not really, when Hongbin comes over a minute after, sitting across from him without a word, a glint in his eyes.

“Aren’t you going to ask what I got this time?”

“I don’t care,” he tells him and Hongbin pouts at him. It’s an odd contrast to how Hongbin seems to carry himself. It makes him look younger, cute even.

“I got strawberry this time,” he says anyway, resting his chin on his palm, lips pursed.

Hongbin’s order takes a while longer than Taekwoon’s and he’s drinking the pink beverage eagerly by the time he gets his hands on it, taking a long swig.

“Aren’t you going to draw today?” Hongbin asks him, straw still between his lips. Taekwoon shrugs, but he does take his sketchbook out of his bag. He has a few ideas for his group’s project that he’d like to present them. They usually all have at least one idea or suggestion by the time they meet up, a silent agreement to not show up unprepared.

Taekwoon turns page after page, starting over another yet time, unable to get the image in his mind down on paper. He can’t seem to concentrate either.

“Why don’t you just use an eraser?” Hongbin asks him, and when Taekwoon turns to look at him, he sees that Hongbin has his eyes fixed on his sketch.

“I don’t like it.”

“So you just start over? Every time? Even if you’re almost done?”

“Depends.”

Hongbin nods though he tells Taekwoon that he doesn’t get it. Taekwoon doesn’t expect him to. He closes his sketchbook with a sigh.

“Am I distracting you?”

Taekwoon shakes his head. He isn’t. Hongbin’s presence has never bothered him before, but today doesn’t really feel like a productive day, and he has no intention of pulling out his literature book. They’re drinking their coffee in silence until Hongin opens his mouth to say something.

“Do you seriously always get a macchiato?”

“Yes,” Taekwoon says, but it comes out as a sigh.

“Why?”

“I like it.”

“But isn’t it boring?”

“No.”

“Have you ever _tried_ something else?”

Taekwoon nods, but Hongbin either doesn’t see it or ignores it as he pushes his own cup over to Taekwoon’s side of the table. Taekwoon frowns as he looks at it. He and Hongbin may not be strangers any longer, but he doesn’t really feel like exchanging spit with him.

“Don’t be so sensitive, I’m not sick,” Hongbin says, nudging the the cup again and moves it closer to Taekwoon. He takes the cup, still feeling doubtful when he lifts it to his mouth, lips carefully closing around the very tip of the straw and sucks.

“So?” Hongbin asks him, taking the cup when Taekwoon hands it over.

“It’s… sweet.”

“It’s _good_.“

“Hm.”

This time Taekwoon knows that Hongbin is ignoring him, drinking his frappuccino with his eyes on the pink substance as the level in the cup drops, disappearing in the straw and into his mouth.

 

“Is that a macchiato?”

Taekwoon throws Hongbin a bored look at he sits down at his table, frappucino in hand. It has an ordinary colour, Taekwoon notices, not green or pink like the last two times. He is so close to telling Hongbin that, yes, it’s a damned macchiato, but he doesn’t.

“Caramel,” he answers instead, gaze dropping to the paper in front of him again, following the lines he’s drawing.

“ _Baby, baby, you’re caramel macchiato. Still, near my lips, you have a sweet fragrance_ ~” Hongbin sings quietly and Taekwoon’s hand twitches to hit him, tracing the teasing in Hongbin’s voice as he sings the next line of the song he recognises to be Urban Zakapa’s ‘Drinking Coffee’. “ _Baby, baby, tonight_ ~”

When Taekwoon looks at Hongbin, he’s smirking at him, lips wrappped around the black straw. He keeps his eyes on Taekwoon’s when he drinks, still smiling around the straw. His dimples are faintly showing. He wipes his ring finger across his lips as he puts his frappuccino down, humming the rest of the chorus and Taekwoon lets out a small huff. Then he says,

“I can’t believe you got another macchiato even after I let you taste my strawberry frap yesterday.”

“What do you even know about coffee.”

“I know that a macchiato is plain as hell.”

“‘Fraps' aren’t coffee,” Taekwoon says, drawing another line on his paper. He doesn’t see the roll of Hongbin’s eyes.

“Yeah, they don’t actually taste like crap.”

“They’re not coffee.”

“There’s caffeine in them.”

“Not yesterday.”

“Who the hell wants coffee in their strawberry anyway?” Hongbin groans, grimacing at Taekwoon, who lets out a small sigh.

“Brat.”

Silence spreads between them when Hongbin doesn’t reply and Taekwoon sketches diligently in his book again.

 

Taekwoon and Hongbin falls into a kind of pattern. The days Taekwoon visits Milky Way, which is usually one to three times a week, he’s always there before Hongbin, no traces of his bright locks or leather jacket. One time, Hongbin had arrived first, already sitting at a table with his drink. He had thrown a napkin after Taekwoon when he had passed him. _“Hey, aren’t you going to sit with me?”_

They don’t know each other well despite having seen each other every week for months. Taekwoon doesn’t even know what his last name is. Sometimes, they don’t talk, only greeting each other before Hongbin lets him do his homework or sketches in silence, watching him carefully. When they do talk, it’s usually thanks to Hongbin, who still complains about his “boring choices”. Apparently, the one time Taekwoon had gotten a double espresso wasn’t quite good enough for him. Hongbin always buys cold drinks though he has said that he doesn’t mind hot chocolate or tea. Taekwoon can’t possibly remember the names of all the cold blended coffee drinks or the stupid combinations of the colourful iced tea mixes, Hongbin gets. “ _This is mango and lime, but I think i’ll get the raspberry-pomegranate-guarana one when I head home._ ”.

Hongbin isn’t very fashionable, he had learned by now. He had seemed so, in the beginning, but after a few more meetings, and then some, Taekwoon had come to find that most of the clothes Hongbin wears beneath his jacket are very plain. So, it had annoyed Taekwoon yesterday, when Hongbin abruptly had stopped the usual bickering about his macchiatos to tell him that he didn’t really like Taekwoon’s hair. They had known each other for three months now. It was alright to hit him. Taekwoon didn’t tell him that he agreed though, unhappy with how long his hair was becoming and how troublesome it was to take care of it.

 

“By the way,” Hongbin says suddenly, dropping an ice cube from his mouth back into his cup of iced coffee. (With milk. _Brat_.) “You’re always drawing when I see you here. Are you some kind of art major?”

“Sculpture,” Taekwoon answers, voice distant.

“Sculpture? So you make like, statues and stuff like that?”

Taekwoon shrugs, murmuring a ‘ _I guess_ ’. He doesn’t feel like he can be bothered to explain that what he does is so much more. He doesn’t actually carve people out of stone like most people think, rather he’s mostly working with wood and metals.

“Then why are you always drawing?”

“So I know what to make.”

“Oh. Makes sense,” Hongbin says. He almost sounds embarrassed.

Hongbin doesn’t say anything after that to Taekwoon’s surprise, so he focuses on his sketch again, changing the angle of the paper slightly. Hongbin watches him quietly, head tipping to the side as he tries to figure out what the hell Taekwoon’s strokes are supposed to make out. Hongbin quickly falls back to his chair though, his hand rubbing his neck.

“How is it? Sculpturing, I mean, sculpting?” he asks.

“I like it,” Taekwoon says and Hongbin looks at him, waiting for more, so he puts his pencil away, looking up, “I’ve always liked using my body. When I was younger, I wanted to be a football player.”

“But…?”

“I got injured. But I like this too.”

“What are you going to use it for though? I mean, can you really make a living of-” he waves his hand in the air, words forgotten, “sculpting things?”

Taekwoon shrugs, because he doesn’t know. He hasn’t thought that far, just happy that he’s found something he likes. He expects Hongbin to mock him for it, like some his friends have, but he just nods.

“I wanted to do photography,” he tells as he stabs his drink with his straw, and Taekwoon realises that he’s trying to make a proper conversation. It’s a first, but he finds that he doesn’t mind.

“But…?” Taekwoon asks, imitating him. He wants Hongbin to keep going.

“I didn’t really like the other classes? And I didn’t want to do my electives, so I dropped out. I just want to take pictures, you know. Nice pictures.”

“Then what do you do now?”

“Work,” he shrugs as he says the word, “ I have friends who needs a photographer from time to time. And friends who have other friends. I’m pretty decent, you know? Or I guess I am, since they hire me. My face probably helps too, like people always say shit like how I should be in front of the camera instead as if it’s important, but who cares about that if it means they approve of me working as their photographer in the end. It gives me a lot of experience. It’s not what I’d get from college, but I’ve gotten booked for a lot of parties and also all kinds of other things, so I guess i’m not off too badly and- what?”

“I’m just… surprised that you make enough to go here every day?”

“Oh. I have another job. At a night club. Starlight?”

Taekwoon nods. He’s heard of Starlight a lot before though he’s never been there. Taekwoon hasn’t really been anywhere before. He doesn’t go out. Hakyeon goes there often, he knows. Jaehwan and Wonshik, too.

Hongbin smiles, looking a little smug.

“You’ve never been there before, have you? You don’t look like the type.”

Taekwoon doesn’t know if Hongbin means to be offensive, but he isn’t bothered by the assumption. He’s right, he isn’t the type.

“You should come,” Hongbin says, smile growing bigger, “visit me.”

Taekwoon shifts in his seat, about to reject him when Hongbin speaks again.

“I’ll even get you a drink on the house. We don’t serve macchiatos though.”

Hongbin laughs when Taekwoon kicks his chair under the table, his eyes turning into the shape of crescent moons and one of his hands coming up to cover his face when he opens his mouth a little too big, straight row of white teeth showing as he throws his head back. Taekwoon has seen Hongbin’s dimples, they show when he drinks his stupid frappuccinos and when he chews on the straw, but they’re barely visible when he smirks and only vaguely showing when he gives Taekwoon one of his small smiles. They’re very distinct like this though, when he laughs, deeper than Taekwoon has ever seen them before. He can’t stop staring.

“Ah, but seriously, you should come check it out,” Hongbin says, still smiling. He looks different, Taekwoon thinks. He’s never had Hongbin smiling at him like this before, and he doesn’t want to admit it, but he likes it. He doesn’t realise how distracting it is until it dawns to him that Hongbin has been speaking to him again, asking him a question. He blinks.

“Sorry?”

Hongbin looks a little flustered, like he doesn’t want to repeat himself, the usual cockiness suddenly gone. Taekwoon quite likes this look on Hongbin too. He doesn’t answer him, not right away, eyes darting from Taekwoon to the customers at the table next to them. He opens his mouth, then closes it again, biting down on his lower lip as if it would be too embarrassing to say a second time. Taekwoon watches him in amusement, the corner of his lips curling up in a small smile. It seems to put Hongbin on edge.

“I was just… saying that i think that maybe if you really don’t like going out clubbing... and I mean, it’s in my work hours, I wouldn’t actually have time for you, then maybe, would you want to go out and grab something... that’s not coffee?”

Taekwoon’s lips pull up, turning into a grin. Hongbin grabs his almost empty cup, fingers tapping against the plastic.

“Yes,” Taekwoon says softly, “I’d like that.”

**Author's Note:**

> thanks to my two betas for their hard work<3


End file.
